Means for preserving food.



L. L. KAHN.

MEANS FOR PHESERVING FO0D` 'APPLICATION FILED Au ;.1.1911` lgg Patented Feb. 12,1918,

MENGE Il. KAHN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

MEANS FOR PRESERVING FOOD.

specmcatio of Letters Patent. l Patented Febo 129 1919 Application filed August 18, 1917. Serial No. 186,831.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE L. KAHN, of No. 6 Second avenue, in the city of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented a certain new, useful, and Improved Means for Preserving Food.

My invention relates to improvements in methods of and means for preserving food and the object of my invention is to provide a method which will etlectually prevent the great waste which occurs with the present most approved methods of preserving` meats, vegetables, etc., and which shall result in the practically perfect preservation of such materials that'are subject to rapid decay, for any desired length of time and in any climate of either extreme heat or extreme.

cold.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for practically carrying my improved method into eect. l v

My invention consists in a method ot preserving` meats, vegetables, etc., which comprises the inclosing of the material in a metal can, such as the ordinary tin can, applying heat to the can in the usual manner, thereby expelling the air and heating the contents to the proper degree in accordance with the usual practice, but before placing the material in the can, and while the same is still open, I place a lining in the can comprising a thin sheet of amorphous material 'of vegetable origin which is impervious to water and germ proof, such as Celluloid. Then I place the material to be preserved in the can within the lining and then I cover the contents with a sheet of the material of which the lining is made, and then I hermetically seal the metal cover on the can and proceed inthe usual manner to heat thecan and its contents, and I iinally hermeticallv seal the can itself.

Mv improvement consists in the inclosing of the material to be preserved in a germ roof lining which is impervious to water, hr1-anger] between the contents and the inner surface of the metallic container. and which efi'cctually prevents the contamination of thev contents by contact with the metallic container.-

My improved means for preserving food consists of a hcrmetically sealed metallic container lined vwith a relatively thin sheet of amorphous materiahsuch as celluloid, and which efectually prevents the contacting of the food placed within the lining with the inner surface of the metal container.

My invention also consists in the use oi a separate lining in the metallic container, which lining is impregnated with camphor to the end that the lining is practicalh7 germ proof, or which tends to destroy or kill any germs which might be deposited upon its surface.

It has long been known that the preservation of foods, and particularlymeats and meat products, under the methods now in use, is more or less doubtful. In fact, such products are only usually guaranteed. to stay in proper condition butl a few months, with the consequence that it frequently occurs as a matter of history that many thousand cans, or may be hundreds .of tons, of such preserved meat become unlit for human consumption and are a total loss to the owners thereof. Furthermore, it often occurs that such spoiled. meats are inadvertently eaten with the possible consequence of sickness and frequently the death of those pai-taking.

All of these losses and unwanted results are positively eliminated by the use of my improved method of and means for preservingI food. for the reason that the main source of difliculty lies in the contacting of the food contents with the metallic or tin container. It is not. suiiicient to line the can with paper, such as tissue paper or paralin, otherwise known as sanitary paper, for such linings are `not germ proof, and in that sense they do not prevent the practical contacting of the-contents with the metallic container. Although the escape of the liquid contents through the cracks between the parts of the lining into contact with the container does not-deleteriouslv affect the contents, I some-` tainer provided with a lining made in ac-4 cordance with my invention, and by means of which I am enabled best to carry out myimproved method of preserving food;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the container on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional Views similar to Fig. 1 showing modified forms of lining.

In carrying out my improved means of preserving food as4 explained hereinbefore, I proceed in the usual manner of preserving food, vegetables, meats, etc., in metallic or tin cans, except that I first line the container with a germ proof and water roof lining, which is of such material that 1t will ei'ectually prevent the passa e of germs from the metallic container to t e food, which will ei'ectually prevent the formation of any destructive material caused by any chemical action which may be set up between the food or meat acids and the metal container, and which will not adhere to thesurface of the metal. I have` discovered that thin celluloid has all the necessary qualities. Its

.. nature is such that though germs may be deposited upon it it doesnot serve to propogate them but rather to destroy them, the slight trace of camphor therein effectually preventing untoward effects.

It is quite possible that some other material equally efficaciousmay be discovered, andI do not confine or limit my invention to the use of celluloid, but one novelty in my invention resides in the discovery that a thin sheet of celluloid, when used as a lining` will eii'ectually prevent the destruction of the contents of a metallic container in any climate either extremely hot or extremely cold, and for an indefinitely long time In said drawing A is a metallic, preferably tn, container, having a body B and a cover C. At the time the contents are placed in the can the cover C is not on the can, in other words, the top is open. I irst place the lining D within and in contact with the side walls of the can, which may be of circular cross section, or any other 'suitable shape. This lining may consist Vof a strip of the celluloid, arranged 'with its endsin overlapping contact, as at E. Then I place a disk F of the sheet material,.which fits snugly within the lining in the bottom of the container; then in preserving the food I place the food in the container, filling it full. After the container has been filled I place a second disk G, similar to the disk F upon the top of the contained food, and

then I hermetically seal the cover C upon the body B. The cover is vprovided with the usual hole or opening for the escape of the steam or air during the heating process, and I then subject the can and its contents l to the action of heat .of the proper degree and a suitable time, according to the nature of the contents, and which are well known to those versed in the art. When the can and its contents have been heated to the proper degree for a sufficient length of time I hermetically seal or close the hole in the cover of the can in the usual manner with a drop of solder.

In the preservation of some foods. particularly those containing a large proportion of liquid, such as vegetables or fruits, I sometimes prefer to modify the lining as shown in Figs. 3 or 4. The lining in Fig. 3 consists of they bottom disk H, having an upturned flange, J, within which the lower end of the lining of the vertical wall fits. The top or cover K is provided with a similar flange L, which preferably fits within the upper end of the vertical lining.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a lining of but two pieces, the bottom and vertical wall being formed or pressed out of a single piece M, and forming a cup-like container without a joint, and the top being preferably of the form K as shown in Fig.'3, having a flange L which fits within the upper end of the side wall.

In all forms of my improved container I provide a lining made of germ proof material which is impervious to water and all weak acids or alkalis which might be or form in foods, and which lining elfectually prevents the food contents of the container from contacting directly or indirectly with l the inner wall of the container.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A closed vessel in which to preserve food, comprising a metallic container, having a lining contacting with the inner surface-thereof, and adapted to completely encompass the food in said container, said lining comprising a thinv sheet of amorphous material of vegetable origin which is impervious to water and such acids and alkalis as might be found in the food or food products, and is germ proof.

2. A closed vessel in which to preserve food, comprising a metallic container. having a. separable lining contacting with the inner surface thereof, and adapted to completely inclose the food contents of the vessel.

4. A closedvessel in which to preserve food, comprising a. metallic container, having a lining composed of sheet material containing a small percentage of camphor .adaptedtoA completely inclose the food contents of th vessel and to prevent the con-- comprising a sheet of material of vegetable origin, ,which is germ-proof and impervious .to water, inclosing the food contents and preventing the direct contact thereof with they inner surface of the vessel.

6. The herein described improvement in the art of food preservation, comprising a metallic can or container,

and a lining of sheet celluloid covering the inner surface of the can and adapted to envelop food conltained within the can.

7. A vessel in which to preserve food, comprising a metallic container, and a celluloid lining therein adapted to prevent the contacting of the food contained in the vessel with the inner surface thereof.

8. A metallic food container, and a celluloid4 lining therein.

9. A tin cam'in which to and a celluloid lining thereln adapted to prevent the contacting of food contained in the can with the inner surface thereof.-

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set vmy hand this 15th day of August, 1917,

`in the presenceJ4 of one subscribing witness. KAHN.

` LAWRENCE L. Witness:

E. F. WILSON.

preserve food, 

